1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to computer input devices, and more particularly to computer input devices having multiple configurations and input modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ideal computer input device enables efficient, portable human-computer interaction without user discomfort. In an effort to increase portability, recent designs have sought to reduce size and weight at the expense of less efficient interaction.
Many handheld and mobile devices impose significant size and weight requirements. These requirements have led to miniature keyboards and touch screens. Miniature keyboards provide tactile feedback, but they are uncomfortable to use because a user may be limited to typing with only two digits (often thumbs). Additionally, miniature keyboards face durability issues because their smaller components fail more quickly. Touch screen devices offer a larger area for user input because the entire display area may be used for input. However, touch screens offer no tactile feedback, so they decrease input speed and accuracy. Additionally, touch screens increase cost and fragility over a typical display screen. Both touch screens and miniature keyboards are ill-suited for inputs that require use of special characters and number because they are generally configured with fewer keys than a standard QWERTY computer keyboard. Finally, touch screens and miniature keyboards generally rely on the operator monitoring a display to ensure accurate input, so they hinder operator mobility.
Other efforts have focused on making standard QWERTY keyboards more portable. Some of these efforts include projection keyboards and rollable keyboards. Projection keyboards project light onto a flat surface and detect when a user's digit has moved into an area of space between a projected key and the keyboard projector. Rollable keyboards are made out of flexible materials so that the keyboard can be rolled up for easier transportation. Although these keyboards are easily moved from one location to another, they rely on a flat surface for support and are insufficient for mobile use.
Some wearable input devices include input functionality. However, these wearable devices provide limited functionality. For example, a watch features one or more buttons for setting a time and modifying an alarm. However, these buttons are ill-suited to more generalized tasks requiring input of words, numbers, or more specialized data. Another approach has outfitted a wearable glove with electronics to track the motion of each digit of the hand. However, this technology requires the user to learn a specialized gesture vocabulary to accomplish tasks. This gesture vocabulary requires significant training to develop muscle memory for efficient use. The library of recognizable gestures may be too limited to signal all the inputs necessary to accomplish a given task, particularly tasks requiring alphanumeric input.